Revenge and Justice
by XSemperFidelisX
Summary: She had been fired from her job, her car had broken down, and now she finds out that her cousin has been kidnapped by the villian from a childrens book. This was not a good day. Note: Epic quest kind of story, so going to be fairly long.
1. A Necessary Introduction

Ok, as the title suggests, this chapter is necessary, if you want the rest of the story to make sense. So read thoroughly, don't skim. The following chapters, you can speed read if you want.

If Sarah Williams had run the Labyrinth a few years before her actual experiences, she might have had a much kinder opinion of its facilitator, Jareth. After all, a few years prior, Jareth had followed the laws of the Labyrinth, treating it as a testing ground, a chance for the runners to prove themselves, and win the wished-aways back. Had he been a bit unsympathetic to the runners' pleas? Perhaps a touch condescending? Yes, but at least he was fair, though often the runners didn't see it that way, or at least not at first. And he certainly didn't treat a runners experience in the Labyrinth like a game, put on for his amusement. It was merely a learning experience on the part of the runner, nothing more. In fact, the Goblin King was more a keeper of the wished-aways than anything.

The Labyrinth, being its' own master, contrary to Sarah's belief, was the creator of all tests and trials experienced by the runners. The Labyrinth and the Goblin King had an equal relationship, the Goblin King taking care of the Labyrinth's upkeep, and ruling her creatures, guiding and protecting them. In return, the Goblin City was never invaded by bordering nations, greedy for rights to the gateway to the Underground.

The Goblin King himself was granted a degree of the Labyrinth's power, enough to make him one of the most powerful monarchs in the Underground. But this power would prove to be his undoing, because in his power, Jareth became contemptuous of the weak and defenceless runners. And so the Goblin King began taking close interest in the progress of the runners, never directly involving himself; however, as it was forbidden by Law for Jareth to inhibit a runner from their goal. Instead, the Goblin King made suggestions to his subjects that perhaps the runner might need to prove themselves invulnerable to attempts to dissuade them from their task, and take the easy road. There were a few close calls, in which the runner barely made it, but there were no losers yet. That didn't happen until about six months before Sarah ran the Labyrinth.

A young man, 17 years old, wished away his younger brother, who was not even a year old. Now, really, he should have known better, at his age, and it was true, he was rather impatient, with a shorter fuse. Yet, perhaps, if given a chance, he might have improved, or at least be set on the path for improvement.

It was later said to have been an accident, a misunderstanding, but the runner had indeed lost. And the penalty for such a loss was of course, death. A life in exchange for the life the wished-away would lose. It was perhaps both a blessing and a curse that Jareth neglected to mention this to Sarah. The Goblin King was responsible for the dealing out of such punishments, and for the first time since the creation of the Labyrinth, the dungeons of the Goblin Castle were put to use. The Labyrinth erected within itself a memorial for its lost student, both a warning to other runners, and a reminder of what the Labyrinth was, with a promise not to have it happen again.

Life went on, despite this loss. Runners came and went, winning back their wished-aways. Meanwhile, the Goblin King was busy making adjustments to the Labyrinth. The Goblin City had no real army under its command due to the protection the Labyrinth offered. However, Jareth still tried to direct the Goblins into something resembling a militia. No easy feat, given the naturally undisciplined nature of goblins. And Jareth continued to have the Labyrinth creatures attempt to hinder the runners, at first through deception, and later, through threats.

The last runner before Sarah had been a young teenage girl as well, who had artistic skills, and had wanted to become a famous painter when she grew up. She had wished away her two-year-old sister when she had found her in the bathroom, flushing her paints down the toilet. When the parents came home, they found a half empty paint set, but neither girl was ever found. If the Labyrinth had suspicions about this second loss, it was not telegraphed, and nothing was done.

As mentioned before, if Sarah had run the Labyrinth even a few months before, she would have had a much nicer opinion of Jareth. As things stood, her opinion was not appropriate to be heard by children. But Sarah had caught Jareth in a transitional stage. He was opposing the runners, but still made appearances like he wasn't. It was after what Sarah later referred to as the 'Peach Incident', in which Sarah was trapped in a Masquerade ball that things changed. The only Law of the Labyrinth, concerning the Goblin King, was that he was not to detain, deter, or delay a runner in any way. In doing so, Jareth declared himself a traitor, and opposer to the Labyrinth and her purposes. What Sarah didn't know was that as she made it out of the junkyard, through the Goblin City, and eventually stormed the castle, she had not three allies, but four. Without the help of the Labyrinth, she never would have made it through the Escher room in time.

After Sarah's victory, the Goblin King and Labyrinth were at an understanding. Both understood that they each would defy and combat the other, each time a runner came through. And both knew that a balance of power could not exist. One would prove to be the more powerful, and destroy the other. The Labyrinth, being the source of Jareth's power, should have won.

Unfortunately, Jareth had a back up plan. He had signed treaties with the darker kingdoms of the Underground, and these vile creatures were now granted access to the Labyrinth and Goblin City. Trolls, nymphs, witches, vampires, and others. In return, Jareth was given power, enough power to dominate the Labyrinth, and bend it to his will. And with Jareth in control of her structure, allowing the darkness to taint her goodness, the Labyrinth fell into sleep.

Yet, even with the Goblin King in control, and evil running free, there still remained goodness, for even as you cannot have light without shadow, there cannot be night without the promise of the coming dawn. There was one section of the Labyrinth which remained outside the reach of Jareth's new powers. The Labyrinth's forest was not actually a part of the Labyrinth, merely a by-product of its power. The forest was a safe haven for the good creatures, the original Labyrinth creatures, where the remnants of the Labyrinth's power kept them safe. Those faithful to the Labyrinth, and later, the goblins who were driven out from their city to make room for the new creatures, fled to the forest, and set up fortresses, the Labyrinth's magic helping to shield them from detection. Here they stayed as things outside gradually became worse and worse.

Jareth, using his newly obtained power, grew the Labyrinth to three times its original size, and set about making it impossible to solve. There were fatal traps, so well disguised, that they were not discovered until to late, instruments of torture, designed to wound, disfigure, and even kill. Also, there were powerful monsters, gruesome, vile looking, and able to strike terror into a runner's heart. But even more dangerous than these were the Nymphs and Vampires. For, instead of being ugly and terrifying, they were beautiful, and appealing. They used their beauty to entice a runner from their course, and once ensnared, a runner forgot all else, sinking deeper and deeper under the creatures power, until their time ran out. When the time ran out, if a runner even managed to live that long, they were executed. Whether by death from one of the monsters, or execution, no runner ever made it out of the Labyrinth, and the wished aways were put into slavery, serving at the castle, and once having outlived their usefulness, were drained by the vampires.

Aboveground, the cases of missing children were rising steadily. The police were clueless, there never being any signs of a struggle at the scene, no trace of evidence, nothing out of the ordinary. It was as if the children had simply vanished into nothing. Things were bad for the families, who were torn with grief and worry, unaware of their children's fates, but even worse for those who knew. The Labyrinth creatures suffered and grieved for each wished away enslaved, and each runner executed.

But like the coming of dawn, the good beings were not without hope. There was an old ally of the Labyrinth, who had been gone for many years, away on his own business, unknown to most others. His return would be the coming of a new day. For surely the Phoenix would have the power to defeat the Goblin King? This kept the hopes of the Labyrinth resistance and enslaved humans alive, and their despair at bay. And then, oh finally! The Phoenix was coming back! Each day, the Labyrinth creatures looked to his coming, knowing that each day brought him closer. And one day…despair. The Phoenix, their last hope, had been captured, now held in the dungeons of the castle, until he would receive the same fate as so many runners.

Now the Labyrinth's own and enslaved humans alike took up one desperate cry, pouring all their destroyed hopes into the plea: 'Someone save us! Someone set us free!' Unbeknownst to them, Someone had heard them. And He was Someone who'd had a plan, from before Jareth had been made King of the Goblins. His plans were set, the pieces ready. There only needed one final act, to set His plans into motion.

Dramatic, no? Yeah, you guys don't have to review if you don't want. It won't affect my posting. But if you want to flame, I place the condition that you must provide _reasons _to support your argument. Yes, like in English class.


	2. That one Final Act

O.k., here's the thing. I forgot to put in a disclaimer when I uploaded the first chapter, so I would just like to unnecessarily point out that I do not own Labyrinth, or any of its characters. I also do not own Narnia, or any other fandom which may or may not be included in this story. But we'll just cross that bridge when we come to it.

It was 12:13 am on June 11th. In other words, it was exactly 13 years, 13 days and 13 minutes since Sarah Williams had run the Labyrinth. The woman in question, now 28 years old, was at home finishing up one of her costume designs for Monday.

There was a storm outside, as there had been years before, and Sarah couldn't quite shake the feelings of anxiety which had been present these last few days. Feelings which spiked as the power went out. She was well aware of what had taken place thirteen years ago, exactly. But after all, she'd defeated him; broken his power over her, what had she to fear? So then why did every noise make her heart stutter?

Then icy dread poured through her as she heard those all-to-familiar noises. The screeching and flapping at her window. She ran to the window to lock it, but was not strong enough to counter the unnatural wind which blew the window open, allowing a snowy white barn owl into the room. The owl flew directly at her face, and Sarah put her arms up to shield it, gabbing at the feathery nuisance. She was pleased to make contact, hooking her fingers and digging her nails into soft, warm flesh.

Then it changed, and the flesh she was grabbing was no longer covered by feathers, but a cool, silky material. Sarah looked up and found Jareth, the Goblin King, the villain from her adolescence standing about a foot away. And she was still latched onto his shoulders. She quickly dropped her hands. Jareth didn't seem to notice. He slowly smirked, running his eyes over her.

"Well, well, my pet. How you've grown." Sarah felt a prick of indignation.

"My _name_ is _Sarah_." She stressed.

Jareth was nonplussed.

"No matter," He waved his hand. "You'll do."

Now Sarah was suspicious.

"Do for what?"

Jareth didn't bother to answer, merely began wandering around the room, examining her things. He stopped when he came to a picture of Toby.

"Is this the young brat of yours?" He inquired.

Sarah decided that this was enough. She was no longer 15, and she had beaten him before. She would not allow herself to be pushed around again. She stalked over and snatched the photo from his grasp, placing it back on the shelf, than turned to Jareth, arms crossed.

"Jareth, what are you doing here?" Point blank was probably the best way to go, she figured.

Jareth managed to look surprised, amused, and completely superior at the same time.

"_You've_ gotten feisty, haven't you?" He remarked. Sarah scowled.

"**Jareth**." Now he frowned.

"I did not give you permission to address me so informally."

Sarah rolled her eyes.

"I beat you, remember? Broke your power? Wiped the Labyrinth up with your butt? Ring a bell?"

Once again, Jareth did not answer. Sarah sighed. Well fine. If he wanted to ignore her, she could ignore him as well. She sat down at her computer, and began looking through her emails. Junk, junk, one from Toby, one from Karen, junk, one from her cousin, one from her boss, and another junk email.

"You weren't the first you know." Sarah was startled from her pursuits. "Pardon?"

"You weren't the first to solve the Labyrinth."

Sarah chose a diplomatic reaction to this statement.

"Oh?"

"Almost everyone who ran before you solved it." Sarah was confused.

"Well, if you're beaten all the time, why bother stealing children in the first place? And yes, you do steal them." She added before he could correct her. She turned around to look at Jareth, and found him regarding her with the same smirk he'd been wearing the very first time she'd spoken to him.

"Tell me, Sarah, what did you learn while running my Labyrinth?" Sarah blinked.

"That life isn't always fair, and that's just the way it is." Jareth tilted his head in the exact same manner he had after she'd first spoken to him.

"Ah. And what happened to you as a result of this enlightenment?" Sarah frowned.

"I became less of a brat?" She guessed. "I…_matured_." Realization hit her. "Oh, it was just a test. A way to teach me something." Sarah was smiling now, feeling much happier about Jareth's actions now that they had been explained to her. "You never really wanted Toby at all, did you?"

"No." Jareth replied softly, no longer smirking. "I'd have much preferred a Queen."

Something in his tone, and the way he was looking at her made Sarah nervous.

"Jareth, what are you doing here?" Fear made her voice quiet.

A slow, predatory smirk crossed his features.

"I've come," He began to slowly advance. "To collect my Queen."

Sarah bolted.

There. It was done. And now to set the game in motion. When Jareth re-entered the Underground, he would feel a rumble, a fluctuation of power being exerted. He would brush it off as an aftershock of his own power, unaware that the game had begun, and his fate had just been sealed.

Four children ranging in age are walking down an almost empty street. It is nearly dark, and they are hurrying home. The youngest stops suddenly. She hears what the others don't. The voice of the person she likes best in the world calling her name.

She breaks away from the other children, following the sound of the voice.

"I hear you." She whispers. The other children call out to her, but she doesn't listen, focused only on the other voice calling to her. "Come on!" She calls back to the other children. The young girl vanishes into an alley, and the three children follow. They do not emerge.

He smiles. Good. They will be a valuable aid. And now for Sarah's champion.

Ok, Sarah might seem a bit OOC in here, and by that, I mean different from the movie. But c'mon, think about it. She's all grown up now, and she already took him on. Also, I would like to point out that this is not a Karen-bashing fic. It was just teen age hormones that made Sarah hate her in the movie. With newfound maturity on Sarah's part, I think their relationship would improve greatly. And the fact that I'm posting on a day when I got a review is pure coincidence. I meant it when I said that I wouldn't hold out on updates for reviews. I just found the Sarah/Jareth interaction hard to keep in character.


	3. It is a Fact Generally Acknowledged

OK, apologies for not posting in a while, but I'm allowed to have a life, right? Anyhow, I don't own anything from Narnia or Labyrinth. But I do own my main character here. Oh, and I also don't own the first sentence, I have only modified it for my own purposes.

It is a fact generally acknowledged that a High school female, already in possession of a Prom dress and a Prom ticket, must be in want of a Prom date.

Generally. Though, in my case, it was more like 'in frantic search of', and 'experiencing a desperate determination to have one.' After all, every other dance/social function for which a date is preferable, in both Jr. High and High School had been attended without the security of a date. So, for the last obligatory social function of my schooling, I _WOULD_ have a date.

Except that Prom was two weeks away, and I had zilch. And that's not even the worst of it. Determining that I was going to get a date, be they from my school or otherwise, I'd gone ahead and bought the other ticket. So, I had a Prom dress, two Prom tickets, and no date. You see my dilemma? Though, personally, I feel the guys are partially responsible for my lack of a date. Half the guys I know aren't even going to their Prom, making my options that much slimmer. Horribly inconsiderate of them, if you ask me.

And, as if the stress of date hunting wasn't bad enough, some idiot had decided that Prom should be hosted a mere week after exams. This may be fine for guys, who don't really need to stress over Prom, but us girls, we not only have to worry about our Math exams, we have to organize dates, hair appointments, makeovers, dress fittings, and pray to God that the guy gets a corsage that matches the dress. If you have one, that is. Or, if you're like me, you get to stress over 'Oh please God, let someone ask me to Prom.'

So, for the past week, I had been dealing with the combined stress of Prom, and the prospect of failing my Math exam, having to retake the course, and spending another Semester with Ms. Lynn. A prospect which I have literally had nightmares about.

And, in the midst of this...trying time, someone decided 'Hey, let's really put her on trial, by piling problem after problem on her, and see how long it is before she snaps.' Ok, maybe not that bad, but you get the idea. It was one of those days where you have to wonder if maybe getting out of bed was a mistake. I'd overslept, to begin with, which subsequently caused a lot of my current problems. Because I'd overslept, I hadn't had time for breakfast, and had forgotten a few of the essentials. Y'know, things like my cell phone...keys...wallet. On the plus side, I had remembered breath mints, and my bus fare for the ride to work, because my car hadn't started this morning. Only, I had forgotten money for the ride back.

When I did arrive at work, an hour late, it was to find out that I needn't have bothered in the first place, because as it turned out, I was being let go, due to cut backs. So, I was stuck in town with no money, no mode of transportation, and it was cold and rainy out. I didn't even have a quarter to call home with. And on top of all this, my teeth were sore, due to the teeth whitening strips I'd been using recently, an effort to make myself more attractive for Prom.

After weighing my options, I had decided to walk to the apartment building where my cousin, Sarah lived. It was only a fifteen minute walk, and if she was home, she might be able to give me a drive home, or I could at least use her phone. I rounded the corner, and found myself on a street which I drove all the time, which happened to house a second hand bookstore. I had never been in this store, but had always thought I'd like to go in. Well, given that I had no other really pressing matters at hand, now would be a perfect time. That is, if the roof didn't suddenly cave in on me or the books didn't spontaneously burst into flame.

I quickened my pace as I approached, eager to get in out of the cold, rainy weather. The store was, as mentioned before, a second hand store, and not much to look at on the outside. And, when I stepped inside, I found it wasn't much to look at on the inside, either. It was just a small room with a bunch of bookshelves in it, smelling faintly of coffee, and old books. The room's only other occupant, a girl behind the counter, was immersed in one of said books, and didn't look up as I entered. Seeing as how I didn't need her assistance for anything, I didn't really mind.

I began browsing by first skimming the titles to see if anything stood out to me. I pulled a few books out to read the summaries, but I wasn't really interested in reading any of them. By the time I'd gone over the first row of bookshelves, I was losing patience with my slow browsing, and was now quickly skimming the titles, with a feeling that I wasn't going to find anything that I felt like reading just then.

I was giving one of the shelves a last look when another customer entered. I paused long enough to glance at the newcomer. He was a tall, older gentleman, about fifty, with hair that looked like it used to be blond, but was slowly turning grey. His features were chiselled with age, but not unattractive. He didn't look at all upset with the weather, as many of the people I'd encountered did, and when he turned and caught my eye, he gave me a friendly smile, which I found impossible, not to return. I turned back to my browsing, feeling slightly happier.

"Enjoying your browsing?" A deep, but gentle voice asked.

I looked up, and saw the man on the other side of the bookshelf I was currently looking at. It wasn't a high bookshelf.

I answered him honestly.

"Not really. I just can't seem to find anything I like. I'm not really in the right mood to read any of these books, I don't think."

The man looked genuinely interested.

"Really? Any idea why not?" I shrugged.

"It could be I'm too preoccupied about upcoming things like exams and stuff. I really don't want to write my math exam." I explained. I expected this to be the end of our conversation; after all, my stress over exams was hardly interesting. I was surprised by his next question.

"Do you by any chance like fairy tales?" I again couldn't hold back a smile.

"I love fairy tales." I replied. The man smiled, and held up a book.

"Well, this one isn't very well known, but you might enjoy it." He handed it to me.

It was an older book, appearing to have been read a lot, but well cared for. The gold writing on the front was wearing off a bit, but I could still read the title. _Labyrinth_. I was instantly excited.

"Is this that story of the girl who wishes her younger brother away?" I asked.

"Yes, it is. Have you read it before?" I shook my head.

"No, my cousin once told me this story. I really liked the story, and I'd love to read the book." The man nodded.

"I hope you do enjoy it."

Then an electronic buzzing interrupted us. The man pulled out a cell phone and glanced at the screen, then put it back in his pocket.

"Well, it has been pleasant speaking with you, but I'm afraid I am obligated to leave at the moment. Very busy day ahead of me." I nodded, understandingly.

"It was nice meeting you. Enjoy the book." I smiled.

"I will." I assured him. With a final smile, he left, and I turned back to browsing. What I would have to do in regards to the book was find out how much it cost, then go to Sarah's and tell her about it. I was certain she'd like to read it again, as well. I went to the counter, and the girl put her book aside as I approached.

"Find something?" She asked, with a smile.

"Sort of." I replied. "Just out of curiosity, how much is this book?" I hadn't found a price tag on it. I handed her the book, and she examined it.

"I don't actually think this is one of our books. Um, let me check." She entered something into the computer, and after a minute, she said "Yeah, I don't see anything here. Where did you find it?"

"It was on one of the shelves. That man who just walked out recommended it." The girl nodded.

"Ok, well what probably happened was it was left here accidentally, and since there isn't really a lost and found, here's what we can do. You can take this with you so you can read it, but give me a number I can contact you at, so if someone does come looking for it, they'll be able to get it back. And if not, then you just keep it." I nodded.

"Yeah, that works. Do you have a pen?" She handed me a pen, and I wrote my number down on a slip of paper, which I handed to her.

"Thanks for your help."

"No problem. Have a good day."

So, I left the store with my precious book, which I carried under my sweater to protect from the light mist of rain. Now, it was off to Sarah's. What a surprise she'd be in for.

For when you can't have a cliff-hanger, there's always irony ;) Hope you enjoy. I believe I might be posting again soon, now that this God-awful intro chapter is written. It's an important chapter, both plot-wise, and meeting the main character, so it was important to get it right. But boy, am I glad it's over with.


	4. This is Not the Neverending Story

Do I have to put a disclaimer at the top of every chapter? This is going to get tedious. Fine. Sarah and Jareth, and the Neverending Story are not mine, but Lila and Alana are.

When I arrived at Sarah's, my outlook on life was a lot rosier than it had been fifteen minutes earlier. I still had no date for Prom, I was still probably going to have to take math over again, and I was still fired, but none of that mattered at the moment, because right then, I was in possession of a good book. Now, if I could get my hands on some chocolate, I'd be set.

I glanced around the parking lot as I crossed it. Yep, there was Sarah's car. She was home. I entered the building, and went to the key pad to call Sarah to buzz me in. After a minute or so of letting the phone ring, I came to the conclusion that she was either in the shower, or maybe she had left the apartment for a minute. Either way, I could wait.

There wasn't really any place to sit, so I simply moved out of the way of the doors, and sat on the floor. Not very clean, or comfortable, but I didn't mind. Opening my book, I began to read. I hadn't read very far; I was only at the part where the girl and her step mother were arguing, when a woman entered the tiny lobby.

"Are you waiting for someone, dear?" I looked up.

"Um, yes. My cousin, Sarah, lives here, and I tried calling up, but she wasn't answering. Her car's here, so I guess she must be in the shower or something. I'm just waiting before I call up again." The woman nodded.

"Ok, well how about I just let you up now?" She offered.

"That would be helpful." I agreed, rising to my feet. I waited as she unlocked the door, and held it open for me.

"So, do you know which apartment your cousin lives in?" The woman asked. I nodded.

"Oh, yeah." I'd visited Sarah before. So, we got into the elevator, and I bid her Good day when the elevator stopped at her floor.

When I arrived at Sarah's apartment, I knocked on the door and waited. And waited. O.K, maybe she wasn't home.

Not really wanting to have to spend even more time sitting on the floor, I searched my bag for my keys again. Maybe I had simply missed them last time? There. At the bottom of the bag, my hand closed over a single key. I pulled it out and examined it. It was my key to Sarah's apartment. Huh. It must have fallen off the ring somehow. Oh well. At least things finally seemed to be going my way. I inserted the key, and let myself in.

The apartment was empty, but looked like Sarah had been here just recently. Her sketches were still on the table, so she'd be back soon. She'd have tidied up if she would be gone a while. Sarah was a bit of a neat freak.

So, first things first. Secure myself a ride home. Instead of dialling home, and getting one of my parents to drive all the way out here, I'd just call my friend, Alana, who also had a job in town, at a movie rental store. I dialled the number for the store, instead of her cell, so she'd answer right away. Normally, it's inconvenient to have your friends call you at work, but since Alana practically runs the place by now, I wasn't too worried. She picked up after the fifth ring.

"Hello?"

"Hey Alana, can you talk now?"

"Yeah, for a minute. These preteen boys are getting on my nerves. What's up?"

"I was about to tell her when she interrupted, though obviously not meant for my ears.

"Hey, kid! Did we not just go over this? You aren't 18, you can't rent the R rated movies. Go get High School Musical or something, and get outta here." There was a pause, then: "Leave!" Underage boys who try to rent dirty movies must love Alana. I mean really, who can resist that drill sergeant meets angry mother appeal?

"Sorry, what were you saying?"

"Um, what time do you get off work at?"

"Around 9:00, why?"

"Oh, great. Want to swing by Sarah's when you get off, and give me a drive home? I'm kinda stuck here." I heard Alana give a mock sigh.

"Well, I suppose someone has to mock you for getting into these situations. Fine, I'll come to your rescue." I was insulted.

"Hey! I didn't get myself into this situation, this one just happened to me." Alana was unconvinced.

"Uh-huh. You mean like with the cookies you ruined?" Not my fault, nobody told me I needed to flatten the dough out if trying to bake one big, giant cookie.

"And the broken window?" She continued. Well, how was I supposed to know that it was far too big of a rock to use?

The trouble with me is that I have common sense; I just brush it off as over concern. 'Hey, this rock might be just a bit too big to throw against a window. Ah, I'm just worrying too much. It'll be fine.' _*Smash*_ "Well, **** _(Insert word of choice here)."_Yeah. But seriously, that aside, it really wasn't my fault the car hadn't started that morning. I hadn't done anything to it. In fact, in a rare show of sensibility, last night, I had even moved the car into the garage to protect it from the storm we had.

"Yeah, well, I played an active role in those incidents. I had nothing to do with the car not starting this morning." I informed Alana huffily. I could just see her smirk.

"Sure you didn't, honey. Alright, I'll be there after I get off work. Anything you want me to bring over?" I thought a moment.

"Why don't you pick out a nice chick flick for Sarah? I'm sure she'll appreciate it." I heard Alana groan. Heh heh. Revenge.

Alana hates going anywhere near the `Romantic Comedy` section of the store. I personally believe she has an unhealthy fear of chick flicks, but she claims she merely dislikes them, and her avoidance of said section is based out of irritation and standards than fear.

"Fine," Alana relented. "But I'm just grabbing the first title off the shelf, so if it sucks, don't blame me." Alana get's a discount on borrowing movies.

"Right, then. I'll see you when you get here."

"Yeah, okay. See ya."

"Bye." I hung up.

There, that was taken care of. Now, I could relax, and await Sarah's return. After raiding Sarah's fridge, I was sure she wouldn't mind, too much, I settled down to read. Alana got off at nine, and it was now only 6:00. Three hours to amuse myself during.

I opened my book again, and was soon immersed in the story. The bright young heroine, the villainous, but handsome Goblin King, and her adventures which were admittedly childish, but pleasing on a nostalgic level. Bog of Eternal Stench, really? I was oblivious as the minutes slipped by, and then turned to hours, happy and relaxed, having no other obligation, other than to not mess up Sarah's apartment.

It occurred to me that Sarah must be out with some friends or something. She might be home by the time Alana got here. She didn't like to go clubbing and stay out 'till one and two in the morning.

By 9:00, I was nearing the end of the book, at the party scene, when the phone rang, and startled me. I picked it up.

"Hello?"

"Hey, Lila, it's me" Alana announced. "Let me up."

"Yeah, sure, see you in a few." I replied, before opening the door for her. After I hung up, I continued reading. Before long, I had finished the story, right to the part at the end where the white owl flies into the moon.

But I was surprised to see that there were more pages, many more. Was it a completely different story, two books in one kind of deal? I began reading.

_If Sarah Williams had run the Labyrinth a few years before her actual experiences, she might have had a much kinder opinion of its facilitator, Jareth._Huh, cool. The girl in this book, Sarah, actually shared the same name as Sarah, my cousin. I continued reading, about Jareth's decent into true evilness, and the creatures he enslaved, and their pleas for help.

Then I got to the part where the narration went from past tense to present. _It was 12:13 am on June 11th. In other words, it was exactly 13 years, 13 days and 13 minutes since Sarah Williams had run the Labyrinth._ I kept reading. I felt a large degree of anger towards Jareth for having the nerve to kidnap Sarah when he wasn't even in love with her, (I had entertained this idea a lot over the years. With the storyline, it just made sense.), but I was most intrigued by these four children, and this mysterious He who was mentioned.

With a growing excitement, I turned the page, wanting to see what would happen next. To my disappointment, the next chapter was not about Sarah or Jareth, or even the mysterious children, but a girl who was whining about her lack of a Prom date. And stressing over exams. And having to take Math again. Ok, fair enough, after all, I was worrying about the exact same things this morning. And then she started complaining about what a rotten day she'd had, and I really began to sympathise.

But then she mentioned her decision to visit her cousin, and her visit to a bookstore. Hooookaay, this was getting kind of strange. When the kind stranger came on the scene, and offered her the book, the very book I was now reading, I suspected, I was really sweating bullets. I stopped reading, dropping the book on the coffee table, and taking a deep, calming breath.

"Ok, Lila, calm down. It's just a book. Any similarities between the story and my life are just coincidence. This book is not magic, and it isn't real, because if this is real, than that means it's all real, and oh-dear-God, my cousin has been kidnapped by the Goblin King. Daugh! Shut up!" Great, now I was talking to myself.

Forcing myself to calm down, I picked up the book and resumed reading. I would not be frightened out of reading a book. Not even if it was night-time and I was in an apartment by myself, and where the heck was Alana already? Oh well, no matter. It was _just_ a book. I stubbornly continued reading. Was I acting in denial by doing so? Probably.

The book that the stranger had offered the girl turned out to be missing from the store records, so she was allowed to keep it, provided no one called to claim it. I was almost expecting this. Then she got to her cousin's apartment, and was allowed in by a woman. Ok, not freaking out, so not freaking out.

However, when I read the exact conversation I had shared with Alana today, word for word, including the parts where she yelled at customers, I had to put the book down. Denial was no longer an option. This was either a very elaborate, and very sick joke, or, the option I was a lot less fond of, yet somehow made more sense, was that all this was real, and my cousin had indeed been kidnapped, and if this were the case, then someone would have to rescue her.

So, if Alana wanted to hurry it up a bit...?

Then the power went out. Ok, maybe not. Wait, the book had been given to _me_. Did that mean I was expected to rescue Sarah? That I was to be her Champion?

Ignoring my rational side, which was telling me that I was losing it, I instead focused on the task at hand. If I was to rescue Sarah, then I would have to find a way to the Underground, something I couldn't accomplish on my own. I needed to speak, and ask for some kind of help, but felt stupid for talking out loud to what might be nothing. After all, this still might just be a joke. I compromised, and spoke, addressing whoever had orchestrated all this, hoping they would hear me.

"Well, if You are there, and You want me to be Sarah's champion, then You'll have to help me along."

After I said this, the window burst open, and the wind rushed in, turning the pages of the book I had left open on the coffee table. It reminded me of a scene from a movie I had seen, very similar to my current situation.

"This is not the Neverending story." I muttered, briefly catching a glimpse of one sentence in the book. _Thinking quickly, Lila stated, "I wish the Goblins would come take away my cousin, Sarah, right now."_

But before I could read further, I experienced a sensation like the floor giving out from under me, though my feet remained on solid floor, and the sensation of falling very quickly washed over me.

When the sensation stopped, I opened my eyes (You try falling with your eyes open. It isn't pleasant.) And found that I was most certainly not in Sarah's apartment anymore.

Huh. Guess the joke theory was out.

And then I fainted.

Ok, when I first got on here, back in February, I told myself that I wouldn't make reviews mandatory, because it always used to tick me off when people would withhold chapters until they got a certain number of reviews, especially since most of the fics were the unoriginal, almost, but not quite Mary Sueish types. If you've ever read any, I'm sure you know what I'm talking about. The ones where the Author goes on about how HOTT so and so is? Anywho, back to my point. I gave permission not to review as an effort to make sure I never stooped to blackmail for reviews. And if you are one of those people who always does this, shame on you. But the thing is, I don't see how Miss Genaric, with her Hawt, almost Mary Sue OC can get over a thousand reviews for her stuff, WhileI, who actually am a talented writer (Based on the number of people who have favorited, I think it's safe to say that) I've gotten, what, three or four? And thank you very much to those who did review. But anyhow, the point to my rant, is that I wouldn't mind a few more reviews. Feedback, tell me what you liked, and what you didn't, and what I can improve on. And btw, if you see any signs of Mary Sue creeping into my OC, please tell me immediately. And I think that's all. I will try my hardest never to write another Authors note this long again. Oh yeah. I'm not exactly in want of a beta, exactly, but I would like someone who I could bounce ideas off of. If anyone's interested, you can send me a message. And if you have no idea how to do that, go to my profile, and click 'Send message' Again, so sorry about the length of this AN.


End file.
